Occulated Body [2024]

concept archive

varvara pekhota
lisa ziebermayr

Occulated Body is a collection of generated artifiacts, in which a image generation network has been trained with a small dataset of old phone camera pictures and solar eclipses. The artifacts are inspired by low quality captures of natural phenomenons, which have been admired for generations, and attempted to capture.

With image generators being trained to show high quality pictures, attempting to get as close to "real life" as possible, this work rather attempts to investigate the low quality image, and the "authenticity" we inevitably attach to it.

Deb's Solar Eclipses[1980 - 2019]

photographic collection, archive

Explore the first exhibition showcasing the archive left behind by an unknown eclipse-chaser. The artists name, despite efforts by the research team, was never found. Their only known alias is their YouTube nickname: Deb. We can only wonder about them, try to reconstruct them. But that would leave us where we began - a vast collection of presence.

Chasing is instantaneous: A solar eclipse lasts around 7.5 minutes. It is also a spacial experience: one has to be within a small area of the world to find the eclipse. Chasing a natural phenomenon may seem meaningless but it is in fact, a life lived immediately. The contrast between the astronomical immensity of celestial bodies and humanity looking for them in the sky suddenly vanishes.

For that reason, this seems like a big opportunity: rather than displaying artworks, we are collecting artefacts. Looking into the imperfection of footage, Debs changing cameras and consequent changes of quality, our team managed to get a glimpse of life itself.

Sorry for the shakyness, I was not watching the video while I was recording, I was watching the eclipse in person. [2005/2007]

video footage

Accompanying the photographic collection, Deb has also made handheld footage - presumably with the same photo camera.

The eclipse is barely noticeable as a celestial body, almost rendering it to a mere pixel. But is that any less menaingful? Does the small artifact of a sun in a 640 x 360 pixels screen tell us more of ourselves than we can imagine?